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For 2012, the emphasis on web design colour choices leans more towards functionality than to beauty. While creating an attractive and inviting site is always important, today's browsers want a home page or landing page that is simple and straightforward. They will not linger to try to understand a site with an unclear message. For this reason, colour choice must be a careful process that will enhance the site theme and make its purpose easily recognizable. Usually, a simpler format with a limited palette of two or three colours will work best.

Your choice of web design colour can have a powerful impact for several reasons. Visual clues help consumers to quickly sort and categorize products. Certain colours tap into psychological and cultural meanings and can set a specific tone or mood. However, colours do not hold the same meaning universally. For example, in the United States green generally connotes wealth, growth, prosperity and health, but in China, the same colour symbolizes unfaithfulness in marriage. Your potential audience will be a factor in choosing the most effective web design colour.

Primary colours are back for 2012 but in limited amounts. A site with too many bright yellows, blues, and reds will be immediately associated with children's interests, which is fine if that is what the site is truly advertising. New sites such as Pinterest.com and Celebrations.com have a relatively bland, white background upon which colour accents from reader contributions are broadly scattered. The pages look interesting without being overwhelming. A red or orange logo is always a great attention-getter. Red speaks to excitement and energy while orange suggests sales prices and good values.

The most popular website design colour remains blue. As a branding colour it evokes safety, security, hope, seriousness and dependability. Research shows that blue websites are more trusted by consumers. IBM and many other business sites have chosen a shade of blue for their personal brand. Task Rabbit has combined the values of blue, green and grey for a message that suggests safety, growth and prosperity.

By adding an earthy shade of brown to its blue and green website colour design, Oregon Rain has created an environmental connection. On the other hand, Collisionlabs.com, a manufacturer of seatbelts has taken a more head-on approach by using an all-red background and light-coloured lettering. Red is a high-energy colour but it can also reflect violence and blood. This bold choice makes a powerful statement that would not work for many other products or services.

Yellow may be the new black, but by itself, it can be overwhelming and uncomfortable on the eyes. Contrast it with another strong colour such as black, and you create an impacting presentation. In fact, for 2012, websites with significant amounts of black are popular. Not only does this colour appeal to men, but it is also seen as sexy, sophisticated and serious.